The Promise of Tomorrow
by ZerovS
Summary: A new anniversary, a new adventure! Felix gets kidnapped and the penthouse is destroyed, and Ralph needs to find him before they're shut down. Ralph gets a taste of something stickier than candy-coated darkness, and Venellope meets her rival in racing. In a strange new world with bizarre encounters, it will take more than their wits to bring Felix home and unravel the greater evil.


**A/N: Pre-sequel hype! I absolutely loved the first movie, which I watched only relatively recently. Poor Venellope and Ralph didn't deserve any of that harsh treatment they were getting, and the ending was just adorable! So naturally, I got very excited when I came up with this story idea. I already have the entire outline sketched out; it will be fun for me to compare my exploration of a sequel with the canon as it comes out at the end of the year. I'm going to pour a lot of myself over this project, come sweat and tears! I just hope you guys will have as much fun reading as I do writing it.**

 **Summary:** **A new anniversary, a new adventure! Felix gets kidnapped and the penthouse is destroyed, and Ralph needs to find him before they're shut down. Ralph gets a taste of something stickier than candy-coated darkness, and Venellope meets her rival in racing. In a strange new world with bizarre encounters, it will take more than their wits to bring Felix home and unravel the greater evil lurking beneath. A sequel of sorts.**

 **Chapter 1**

'Goodbye, Iris, Lucy. Thanks for coming.' Stan offered a friendly smile as he held the door open for his two customers. 'You're welcome back anytime.'

'Thanks, Mr. Litwak,' Lucy, the smaller of the two teenage girls, said, skipping happily past the exit with her well-mannered friend in tow, stepping into the chilly winter air.

It was just past nine o'clock, the newly crescent moon enveloping the city below in its gentle light, without a speck of cloud in the sky. It wasn't snowing yet, but a blast of the night wind still sent shivers down Stan's spine. It was a big contrast to indoors, where Stan had a central heating system set up for his customers' comfort. It was technically already past closing time, and the two girls that he had just sent on their way were among the last to go.

Lucy turned toward her friend and sighed, a half-finished vanilla milkshake still clutched in her free hand, 'I still can't believe we lost to that boss. We could have totally beat him if we hadn't died and lost all our power-ups. And you were amazing back there in that racing game, Iris. You almost beat the top record!'

The other girl nodded in agreement. 'Yeah, it was fun, wasn't it?'

'We've gotta come again sometime. Let's just go grab a bite and crash. I'm exhausted.'

Stan looked on fondly until their voices diminished into the distance, before closing the door and silently congratulating himself on another day well done. He flipped off the 'Open' neon sign before making his way back to the counter, to do some final accounting and wrap up for the day.

Litwak's Arcade was doing pretty well for the better half of the year. Business had not been shabby to begin with, then there was the visitor count that had experienced a spike which lasted for some time a year ago, as Fix-it Felix Jr. and Sugar Rush suddenly gained popularity. As knowledgeable and as great the effort Stan made to keep in touch with the latest gaming news, he couldn't for the life of him figure out what kind of internal update the two games got that brought about the drastic change.

As sales increased, Stan was able to afford some internal renovations. At first he had considered setting up a mini snack bar, but that would mean having to find external help to manage it, and Stan would like to keep it a one-man job. Instead, he found a compromise; he had a sizable corner of the store turned into a lounge of sorts, offering free snacks and beverages, complete with a big party couch, its own little comic corner and a small, modern desktop. It had proven to be quite a satisfactory addition to the store.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the store, a scrawny-looking boy was still sat in front of his machine, leaning forward and gazing intently at the screen. It was Stan's sole remaining customer, one that he had never seen before. Wearing a backwards baseball cap and dressed in a slightly oversized sweater, the boy looked to be no more than 16. He had been at the game for at least an hour now, presumably having failed at various points of the game but still refusing to give up.

Stan always allowed a small amount of buffering time for these customers, as absorbed in the game as they were. The persistent ones sometimes stayed an hour in overtime, but he didn't really mind.

Persistence was not a bad trait, and was evidently paying off for the little boy as he pumped his fist excitedly into the air. 'Yes, I did it! I finally reached the last level!'

/ / / / /

'I'M GONNA WRECK IT!'

Ralph bellowed from beneath, making sure to scowl a bit harder and twist his face a little more evil-y. His colleagues and friends were already standing dutifully behind their windows, the extras waiting in the shadows just outside the game screen for their cue to jump in on this bonus level. It was probably unconscious of Ralph, but he could hear a faint hint of anticipation in his own voice; he idly wondered if the little kid in front of the screen could make it out.

He kicked off a few bricks and smashed a few windows, working his usual way up until he reached Mary's balcony with a loud thud. Balling his fist, he threw his punch into a somersault and ripped a huge hole in Mary's window.

'Oh my, Ralph. You're unusually energetic today,' Mary commented as she hid her giggles behind her glove-clad hand.

Ralph's evil façade dissolved for a moment, and he gave Mary a bashful smile. 'Well, I'm kinda looking forward to the party after work,' he admitted quietly.

The good thing about having Ralph's back turned during the attacking phase was that amidst all the flying mortar, no human would guess the residents were engaging in friendly chitchats with the villain.

Mary smiled understandingly. When the arcade was closed and their power shut down, they were supposed to have fun at the penthouse. Ralph had been looking forward to this day for a whole week, so much that he couldn't get much sleep at night. It wasn't like parties were rare in Niceland-culture; on the contrary, the residents always managed to find a cause for celebration every other day. Having fun was just in their coding. But today held a special meaning for Ralph. It was their game's 31st anniversary.

One year ago, oh how things were different one year ago. He could still vividly remember when the taste of mud was still bitter, when he had to settle for being a by-stander despite being a central character to the game, and the fateful encounter that had changed his life forever.

Venellope had made a few cameos here and there in the past year. The first time she appeared in the game, she surprised Ralph by hiding inside Felix's apartment, which of course was empty during playing phase. Game jumping was probably not allowed at day, but what were rules in the face of that little mischief? Poor Ralph was completely taken by surprise, causing him to slid and fall off the balcony, resulting in an instant win for the little gaming enthusiast outside the screen, much to their utter bewilderment. It also earned a wave of hysterics on Venellope's part and a topic of tease probably for the rest of his life.

Venellope, in return, had offered to teach Ralph to kart. When she eventually gave up after Ralph broke every single one of her best creations – not intentionally, she had hoped – Ralph contented in being a spectator in her roster race. Compared to his big physique, the candy crowd was like pocket-sized, so he did feel out-of-place sometimes. Venellope just enjoyed seeing him squirm in his seat to avoid crushing his neighbors.

Ralph had invited her today, naturally. He suspected she would arrive late, as per her game's routine internal racing.

Meanwhile, a strong aroma wafted through the newly jagged opening in Mary's window, and Ralph could immediately tell she was in the middle of baking. Sure enough, the oven was slightly whirring on the neatly arranged kitchen counter, its confines unable to contain the interwoven scent of egg and flour. Unfinished character figures sat just next to the main creation, sculpted expertly with a cooking knife. Ralph could even make out Venellope in the masses, and was that big lump of salmon Zangief? It was also then that Ralph realized that Mary still had her apron on.

'It smells really nice,' Ralph complimented. 'I swear, Mary, even without Felix around, your cooking alone could make me forget all about smashing stuff.'

'Why, thank you, Ralph. I just like it as a hobby,' Mary said before whispering into Ralph's ear. 'I added almond this time. I hear it's really good.'

'I'm looking forward to it,' Ralph said before winding his legs for a jump. 'Well I'd better get going. Time's running out.'

He sprung off, hurled himself around the fire-escape ladder, and landed in front of Gene's. Letting out a battle cry, he grabbed the entire window frame and ripped it away along with some reinforced steel foundation inside the cement.

Gene spoke immediately. 'Listen, Ralph. I just received word from the Villain Asso, and they're taking the next inbound train here. Your friends should be here in about 30 minutes.'

Ever efficient, this man was. Previously named the Bad-Guy Anon, the Villain Asso consisted of the original members, and some new ones that were inspired by Ralph's famous story. The decision to change their name was a decision to pull away from old stigma of sorts; they were now branding themselves not in terms of other people's perceptions, but by their roles in their game. They still sometimes gathered for drinks, swapping stories of their evil deeds.

'Got it, Gene,' Ralph said, to which Gene nodded in acknowledgement.

As far as the nature of their acquaintanceship goes, Ralph and Gene probably still couldn't exactly be considered friends in the traditional sense. Of course, that didn't mean they were still holding grudge toward one another; in fact, they were on much better terms now. But their personalities were too different for them to ever talk openly to one another; perhaps their relationship would best be described as a mutual understanding, the two of them respecting each other as colleagues.

'Also, Pac-Man said he won't be coming tonight. I think he choked on a pebble or something,' Gene added.

Originally designed only for residents of the penthouse, the top-floor party room was way too small to accommodate the ever-growing number of guests, not to mention the influx of staff from other games that had unfortunately faded from the trends. So it had gotten a complete revamp; the whole building had expanded upwards. Now it featured an indoor swimming pool, a Gym – which the people from King of Fighters seemed to frequent – and a new, upgraded reception hall.

It was time for the game to start, and Ralph took his place on the top floor balcony, readying his stack of bricks to hit Felix with. The building was in shambles, then the residents unanimously shouted, 'Fix it, Felix!'

The kid outside shifted his position and wrinkled his nose in anticipation as Felix appeared at the side of the screen on his noble steed of Q-bert. Ralph waved his hand, signaling for the extras to come out.

The kid expertly maneuvered Felix, dodging bricks, deflecting lasers and repairing damaged construction. He had the speed of someone honed by hours of playing, and the overwhelming hurdles of bombing seemed to have no effect as Felix performed pixel-perfect landings. It looked like the kid would have no trouble clearing this final round.

As bricks aligned themselves back into place and windows got hammered back as good as new, Ralph was focusing his attention undivided at his job, so it took him a little by surprise when a Nicelander uncharacteristically shouted with enough force that Ralph was within earshot, 'Hey, what is that?'

He let a bit of his concentration slip. Down on the third floor, Deanne was pointing somewhere in the distance. There, in the faraway sky, was a tiny, red, animated glimmer.

At first Ralph only felt a twinge of curiosity. Out of the countless nights that he had spent in the dump, counting stars and recounting them for lack of better things to do, he had never seen a celestial body just like it. The game's background design had been relatively simple, stars had fixed positions as per the game's design logic, so the otherwise unspectacular glimmer stood out like a sore thumb for the Nicelanders who had been living under the same sky for 30 years.

But it was still hardly anything to be concerned about. As old a game as theirs, the coding was bound to experience a little instability. Maybe it was just simple maintenance issues that would solve itself with a routine check.

At least, that might have been the case if the dot didn't just keep getting bigger. And bigger.

And bigger.

'Hey, wrecking guy, do something.' The kid started poking at the screen, his tone indicating mild annoyance. Ralph's hands had stopped moving, his eyes narrowing as he studied the foreign object intently. As the red dot continued to grow, its exterior flickering like fire and its luminous glow casting an unforgiving crimson light onto the penthouse, a low rumbling noise was starting to be heard. That was when Ralph realized.

It wasn't growing bigger. It was moving closer.

A giant red ball of fire was hurtling toward the penthouse.

'EVERYONE, JUMP!' Ralph shouted.

The scene re-livened into a state of panicked screams, and everyone either frantically reached for the nearest fire-ladder or bolted straight for their front door. The braver ones directly jumped off the eight-story building, trusting their re-spawn mechanism to save them from the fall.

'Oh dear, but what about the cake, and…' Mary wandered undecidedly back and forth. Ralph hurled himself in front of her and shouted, 'There's no time for that, Mary!' He scooped her up in his oversized hand, and some smaller defenseless extras that were lingering in the vicinity, and worked his way back down.

He flashed a quick glance in Felix's direction, who was helping with the emergency evacuation on the other side of the building, switching quick Q-bertese with his partner and taking advantage of their combined agility to help characters out of the building.

Meanwhile, the steady rumble had evolved into a thunderous roar, and Ralph had barely touched the ground before the gigantic fireball connected with the building.

'LOOK OUT, EVERYONE!' Ralph shouted as he dropped on top of his characters and shut his eyes tight, using his body as their shield. The fireball tore easily into the building, the deafening sound of explosion drowning out the pitch of shattered glass and the screams down below. It hurt immensely, and Ralph thought he could pass out by the sheer force of volume.

Outside the machine, the kid looked on with pure fascination on his face, and it was his turn to forget to move his hands. 'Cool!' he exclaimed. Compared to the nightmare in-game, the incident had registered no more than a small crash and sizzle, barely piercing the nightly silence of the arcade and not enough to alert the currently accounting Stan.

The direct location of impact had been burnt to a crisp, isolated fire-charged bricks shooting down on Ralph's back like bullets. It was lucky that Ralph's body was programmed to withstand a moderate amount of force, but the same couldn't be said of his red overalls, now stained with burnt marks all over the place.

Warily, Ralph turned his head to look at what remained of the penthouse. The entire building was ablaze, spewing debris with fire trails and crackling as the flames ate away at its core.

Just a few yards away, Felix had used his quick wits to build a small, temporary shelter with his hammer using bits of silver and gold. The solid metal had suffered some serious dents, but did its job regardless protecting its habitants from harm.

'Is everyone all right?' Felix asked urgently.

Residents stumbled out of the makeshift shaft, holding their heads and groaning. Little characters crawled out from under Ralph's body, muttering in languages that he couldn't understand.

'What just happened?' someone in the crowd asked. The residents exchanged looks of confusion as no one said a word, some of them visibly trembling as they still hadn't recovered from shock.

Suddenly Deanne shrieked, 'LOOK OUT!'

Another horrifying sound followed. The entire building shook, finally succumbing to the immense heat and pressure. It gave some final resistance, then finally gave in and came tumbling down.

As the ashes slowly settled amidst dust-induced coughs, the residents all stood in horror. Gene's legs carried him toward the remains involuntarily, his gaze fixed on the pile of charred rubble. 'Our home…' He started meekly mouth slightly agape and eyes betraying a mixed expression of confusion and incredulity. 'It's ruined.'

'Oh Jiminy Jaminy,' Felix said, mirroring Gene's emotions.

No one was still able to speak or begin to comprehend what had happened when a sudden voice shouted out. 'HAHAHA. Oh my GOD, brother, did you see that?'

The voice was foreign; it came from the sky and didn't belong to any Nicelander. Alarmed, Ralph turned toward the source of the sound. There, right in the sky, masked in silhouette by the backlight of the moon, stood two people. In the air. On a monster with thick brown skin, razor-sharp canines, and a pair of scaled wings that were flapping steadily.

A dragon.

The one in the middle continued to proclaim, 'That was a shot from 700 yards away. God, that AIM. Oh, I wish that darn Merlin was here to see that.' It was hard to make out his face from a distance and shadowed by backlight, but his long fringes were unmistakable. Donned in a dark over-robe, Ralph estimated his height was probably comparable to Calhoun's. The one by his side was shorter, and was sporting a kind of motocross helmet with the front area painted in an impenetrable dark shade. From the faint light that glinted off the texture of his clothes, he was wearing a leather suit that reminded Ralph of a mountain racer, which he had learned all about from Venellope, as expertly knowledgeable in all things racing as she was.

Ralph exchanged a glance with Felix before stepping forward and asked, 'Who are you? What business do you have here?'

The middle one laughed. 'Sorry for our dynamic entry. But there's really no need to learn our names, considering this is probably the last time you'll ever see us. And we're not here for you, Buster boy.' He took a roundabout look at the cast of characters now conveniently gathered outside the zone of catastrophe and said, 'Now where's the hammer guy?'

Outside the screen, the little boy was practically pouncing with excitement. The arrival of the 2-d sprite of a fire-breathing dragon was unexpected and everything he could have wanted. 'No way! This last boss is so cool. Hey, Mr. Litwak, come look, come look!'

Stan chuckled without looking up from his paperwork. 'Why, you're right about that, lad. This game is most famous for its bonus level. Good luck, it's harder than it looks.'

Sticking his tongue out, the kid turned his attention back at the screen, readying his hands at the console. 'Let's go.'

Inside the game, Ralph was getting annoyed, his temper flaring and his hands clenched into fists again. 'You better tell us who you are, or I'm going to pound it out of you.'

'Whoa, easy,' dragon-guy said as he held up his hands. 'We're not looking for any trouble here. I mean, sure we destroyed that nice looking piece of building, but that was all just collateral damage, really. Of course –' His tone turned noticeably darker. '–you're welcome to try and stop us if you think you've got what it takes.'

'Destroyed our building? Collateral damage?' Gene said, and his eyes looked ready to pop out any moment. 'If you think you can waltz into our game, break our stuff and just walk right out, you've got another thing coming. Why I oughta go out there and pull your plug myself. I'm going to make you regret the day you–' He trailed off. Dragon-guy had hopped off his ride and strolled nonchalantly toward the fuming mayor, his boots connecting with the asphalt below in confident steps. He stopped right in front of Gene, his hulking figure towered easily over him compared to the latter's midget build and 8-bit motion. Gene took an instinctive step backward.

'Hmm…' dragon-guy mulled before pulling back a punch and hitting Gene squarely in the face, sending him flying backwards and crashing into the smoking rubble behind him.

The Nicelanders gasped, 'Gene!'

'That should shut him up,' dragon-guy said calmly.

'Hey!' Ralph shouted. It was way past his level of tolerance; he was ready to pounce onto the unwelcome invader and give him a piece of his mind, but Felix's voice stopped him in his tracks.

'Uh, Ralph? Something's not ri…' Felix didn't get to finish his sentence. At the thrust of the controller, the young player outside had commanded Felix to move forward, readying his hammer on the way. In the face of everything that was happening, all of them had forgotten about the fact that their game was still ongoing.

'Whoa!' Felix shouted to no avail as his legs moved uncontrollably, leaving the gang behind and charging headfirst toward the dragon. His super-jump was activated, hopping until he was face-to-face with the inferno dragon and clanked its head with his hammer.

'Yeah, take that, ugly monster!' The kid yelled. Of course, made for creation and not destruction, the golden hammer had absolutely no effect on the attacker. The dragon caught Felix easily in mid-air, securing him firmly in its teeth.

Felix pushed with all his might, but the dragon's mouth was like an iron cage with no way to escape. 'Ralph!'

Dragon-guy looked pleased. 'Well, that saves me a lot of trouble. Let's go, Swift, we got what we need.' He hopped back effortlessly onto the dragon. 'Well technically we only need the hammer, but I guess we can take the guy as a bonus.'

The invaders started to turn and leave, but Ralph was having none of it. 'Oh no you don't!' He ran after them, kicking off furiously and flailing his hand along the way.

Dragon-guy gave a silent signal to his partner, Swift, presumably to be his name. Swift nodded in reply and allowed himself to fall off, a small remote clutched in his hand somehow transforming in mid-air. When he finally landed in front of Ralph, he was seated in a fiery motorcycle, hands rearing on the clutches, wordless as his face remained hidden behind his helmet.

Ralph gave absolutely no regard to the sudden obstacle, intending fully to force his way through. He half-expected Swift to dodge out of the way, but the invader just sat, silently reading him. 'Get out of my way,' Ralph cried when they were at arm's length, hand swiping sideways at Swift without pulling back any of his strength.

But just when his fist was about to connect, Swift disappeared. The roar of his engine was the only indication that he only sped out of the way, and not magically vanishing out of thin air. A sharp pain tore into Ralph's back as Swift crashed his motorcycle into it, sending Ralph violently forward. The small houses that lined either side of the road were lucky to dodge Ralph's massive impact, but the lamppost that guided into the entrance to North Niceland was not so fortunate.

'Ow, ow, ow,' Ralph winced as he struggled to get up. The silent invader in front of him was proving to be very annoying, and Ralph had to find a way to stop him before they carried Felix off to God-knows-where. Ralph looked at him, offhandedly noticing the curious logo imprinted on the now-stationary wheels.

'Hey, bucket head, heads up,' Ralph shouted as he started picking up bricks and asphalt pieces and hurling them toward Swift, but the latter was just too fast, and the speed with which he was able to whiz from place to place almost reminded Ralph of Venellope's glitch. Finally, as if to show what he was capable of, Swift stepped on the accelerator, encircling Ralph in the circle of his locus with blinding speed. As Ralph was reduced to looking at afterimages of the racer, he began to feel nauseated as Swift's centrifugal motion began to suck air from the enclosure, and finally collapsed onto the floor gasping for air. Without another word, Swift drove off, him and the dragon-rider soon nowhere in sight.

Footsteps neared as the other Nicelanders finally caught up to Ralph. 'Are you okay?' they all asked in concern.

After a fit of violent coughing, Ralph managed assuredly, 'I'm okay, I'm okay. But more importantly-' he turned toward the faraway rubble. 'We're going to need Felix back.'

Outside on the game screen, where the whole scene felt like a mini movie than a game, it finally registered a game over for the kid. Dejectedly disappointed, he grabbed his backpack and his remaining coins and headed for the exit. 'Bye, Mr. Litwak. By the way, I think your machine's busted.'

After Stan watched the little kid leave, he let out a sigh and moved to shut down the power of the idle machine, but his eyes widened in disbelief as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. Behind the game over screen was a completely abolished building, and none of the game characters were anywhere to be found. No re-spawned Felix, no victorious Ralph. And the screen just stuck there, with no option to reset the progress and restart the level. Stan tried pushing the buttons, but the screen was completely unresponsive.

Stunned only for a moment, Stan shook his head and just cut off its power. This machine had had some strange behaviors in the past; perhaps this was one of those times that would magically fix itself the following day. At least, that was what he hoped secretly. This machine was starting to hold some sentimental value for him; Ralph and Felix had been with him too long and been too good for his arcade for him to have to unplug it. But if it really was its time, there was nothing Stan could do.

 **A/N:**

 **I hope that 'dragon-guy' doesn't seem too out-there. It's my first time creating a character with such a janky personality, and I hope I didn't do too badly. Until next time. Reviews would be truly wonderful.**


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